Guns - The Good, the Accurate And the Elegant

Two CO2 Revolvers from Umarex that Do Their S&W Namesakes Justice

By James E. House

A lot of products are ordinary. They perform as planned and are reliable, but they do not warrant a description that incorporates superlatives.

Occasionally, however, a product comes along that truly represents the epitome of the species. When it comes to revolvers that launch pellets by CO2 power, that distinction belongs to the guns that carry the name Smith & Wesson. Let’s take a look.

SHOW US WHAT YOU’RE MADE OF

Produced in Germany by Umarex, these revolvers replicate the dimensions and weight of the L-frame S&W 586 and 686 models.

The .177-caliber versions of the S&W revolvers are unquestionably elegant. Moreover, they function exactly like the firearms they mimic, except for using a CO2 cylinder that is held inside the grip. To hold pellets, they utilize a swing-out cylinder that is unlatched by a lever on the left-hand side of the frame. Because pellets are quite short, there is no need for a cylinder that measures about 1½ inches in length. Rather, the “active” part of the cylinder that holds 10 pellets is only 0.370 inch thick. The stationary rear section is part of the frame.

The cylinder is not attached to the spindle on which it rotates, so cylinders can be interchanged. This allows a cylinder that is loaded with pellets to be installed quickly. Unlike some CO2 pistols with short cylinders that will accommodate only flat, pointed pellets, the S&W cylinders are sufficiently thick so that pellets of virtually any type can be used.

An elegant CO2 handgun should have sights to match, and this is certainly the case with the S&W models. The front sight is a square-topped post on a ramp. The rear sight has a crisp, square notch that mates correctly with the front sight to provide a good sight picture. The rear sight is fully adjustable in the traditional way: it features a screw to adjust windage and another to adjust elevation. However, removing the rear sight allows a scope rail to be attached by means of two screws, should you choose to mount a scope.

Guns - Take All The Anti-Gun Reporting With A Grain Of Salt

Gun

The Romans had a term for warning buyers about possible defects in property they purchased that might render it useless or unfit for the use for which it was intended. /Caveat emptor/ means “Let the buyer beware.” In other words, there was no liability on the part of the seller unless he/she concealed the defects or made false representations about the product being sold.

 Of course, under today’s laws, buyers have many safeguards to protect them from defects or dishonesty—but certainly not for all products, and not all of the safeguards are enforceable, so buyers must still beware.

Today, Americans should familiarize themselves with another Latin term: /Caveat lector/. It translates as, “Let the reader beware,” and is similar in many ways to /Caveat emptor/. Rather than accept as fact everything they read or hear in the news, readers/listeners need to sort things out for themselves to determine what’s factual and what’s agenda driven.

This holds especially true in terms of gun ownership, which is constantly under attack by the media, as well as by those who hold public office who believe the Constitution is “a living, breathing document,” whose text is meant to be flexible. Often, the handiwork of armed lunatics is used by the media and lawmakers to make us law-abiding gun owners look like we’re all a bunch of fanatics who live in the past.

During the two short years I’ve been editor of /Gun World/, Supreme Court Justice Breyer, who dissented from the majority in the landmark cases District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and McDonald v. Chicago (2010) told Chris Wallace in a televised Fox News interview that the role of the court is to interpret the Constitution flexibly, in light of ever-changing consequences. We’ve also seen the ATF push for new regulations on gun dealers near the Mexican border—ironically, at the same time Fast and Furious was still in full swing.

In that same period, the tragic Tucson shooting led to an anti-gun outcry on the parts of both the media and members of Congress; the latter used it as an excuse to propose stricter gun-control laws, and the former crafted stories to influence public opinion in favor of these stricter regulations.